There’s no guaranteed way to get people to swipe right on your Tinder profile. But one Reddit user in Toronto shared an experiment that shows many people in his area (at least subconsciously) stereotype him based on his name. The user, who goes by the name FUTBALAR on Reddit, said he was surprised by how few matches he was getting. His roommate recommended he change his name on the dating app from Ahmad to Nick.
Guess what? With that little tweak, he racked up 28 matches in four days. While it’s far from a scientific experiement, Ahmad’s story (check out his full post below) suggests that discrimination based on racial and religious stereotypes is a serious problem on dating apps.
I am a fairly handsome guy, I am athletic, confident and outgoing. Also, I’m 6 feet tall and have added some quality pictures on Tinder (mind you, no selfies). I never had problems meeting women in real life. However, Tinder never worked for me they way it did for my friends. (Six matches after two weeks and only two, one-word replies.) The first thought that came to my mind was: “Well, maybe I’m not as good looking as I think I am.” But that did not explain the fact that a lot of lesser attractive guys got exponentially more matches than me.
Yesterday, I had a conversation with my roommate about this, and he suggested that my Middle Eastern name might be the reason for fewer matches. So I did a little experiment: I changed my name from “Ahmad” to “Nick.” Everything else was the same (the bio, pictures, age, height, etc.). I swiped right on all profiles in both scenarios.
Behold, I am on the fourth day and have already got 28 matches. It’s sad… but , f*%k it. I am Nick.
